


The Mischief Maker

by Pixelatrix



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Adoption, Angst, Drama, F/M, Family, Fluff, Legal Drama, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Romance (eventually), relationships, slightly AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 06:14:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5817247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixelatrix/pseuds/Pixelatrix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Doctor Molly Shepard stumbles across an abandoned toddler while volunteering on Omega. She brings Olivia home where she becomes part of the Shepard family.  Story follows Olivia as she grows into adulthood only to discover her birth father is Admiral Steven Hackett.  She struggles with being the cousin of famous Commander Shepard and the daughter of yet another famous Alliance officer.  </p><p>She grows up loved, cherished and encouraged to follow her dreams.</p><p>She discovers in her teens her connection to Hackett, but has little interest in having a new father.  She’s happy with her parents–Molly and Ivan will always be her parents.</p><p>A talented hacker, Olivia moves into working in creating secure extra-net systems and developing software.  </p><p>Story inspired by another OC of mine - Fia Hackett.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mischief Maker

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Childs Play](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1083213) by [Pixelatrix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixelatrix/pseuds/Pixelatrix). 



> Thanks for the kudos, comments and subscriptions. It's like candy for a writer. =) It keeps me fueled to write more lol.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.
> 
> Bioware Owns all Sadly.
> 
> Magical Betas: CelticGrace & MissMeggo929

Doctor Molly Shepard had dedicated her professional life to helping those who couldn’t always afford medical care.  She worked with Doctors without Borders, travelling across colonies to treat the less fortunate.  It kept her far from home in Seattle for weeks and often days at a time.

Her parents disapproved—naturally—they’d been raised with some antiquated traditions in Shanghai.  They approved of her being a doctor, but not the constant travel.  They blamed her husband, retired Admiral Ivan Shepard.  He had _obviously_ ruined their dainty daughter with his brash, rough manners.  They hadn’t cared much for his darker skin either.

She’d disagreed.  She rarely saw eye to eye with her parents.  It was her grandmother—her namesake—who had taught her how to be a _strong_ , independent person.

Her marriage to Ivan had been a strong, happy one for many years.  Molly missed Ivan greatly while travelling.  She even missed his crazy twin brother Isaac and his family.

Isaac Shepard was an hour older than his brother.  Molly often envied their closeness.  She’d been an only child.  The jealousy extended to Isaac and Hannah’s ability to extend their family.  They had an almost five year old son named John.

She wanted a child.

Longed for one.

It was one of the reasons Molly stayed away from home at times.  She felt like a failure.  It was her own reproductive system which made them unable to conceive after all.

Finding a grubby, bruised small child wandering alone in the human slums on Omega had enraged her.  They could find no one who knew her.  She’d simply been abandoned to fend for herself.

Carrying the little girl back to their ship, Molly gently bathed her to wash away the muck and dried blood.  Her clear blue eyes watched intensely from under a mop of blonde hair which looked like it had been hacked at with a dull knife—jagged and uneven.

Her clothing consisted of a tatty pink shirt and underpants.  The shirt was obviously several sizes too large and fit more like a dress.  Her feet were bare.  They were calloused in such a way that Molly wondered if the child had ever owned or worn shoes.

It took several hours to first clean then care for the various cuts and scrapes.  Molly also treated her for the slight cold she had.   It was one of the worst cases of neglect any of the doctors on board the ship could recall seeing.

“Can you tell me your name?” Molly dressed the child in a blue outfit one of her fellow doctors had bought, but not sent off to their own child.  “How about your age?”

“I three years old.”

Molly smiled while tying the tiny sneakers.  “And your name?”

“I three years old.” She gave a bright, toothy grin—of which one tooth was missing. “Three. Three. Three.”

“Yes. But does your mommy call you by a name?” Molly tried again to focus her.

“Liv.”

“Liv?” She wondered if it was a nickname. “Olivia? Is your name Olivia?”

“Yes.” Olivia nodded, sending her drying hair flying.  Her blue eyes continued to follow every move anyone around her made.  She had an alert awareness to her. “I hungry.”

Carrying her from the Medbay to the ship’s mess, Molly set her down on the counter. She gathered ingredients to make a sandwich then could only watch in shock while Olivia crawled over to make it for herself.  The action in and out itself told them quite a bit about her childhood. 

It broke her heart to see such a level of self-sufficiency.   What three year old had such confidence? Or ate with such speed?  Olivia acted as if the food might vanish within seconds.  

They _would_ not leave her on Omega.

Their Asari liason with Aria had managed to identify the child as one Olivia Mary Smith, three years old.  Birth date and location, unknown.  Mother, Patricia Smith—a well-known dust addict, current whereabouts, unknown.  Father, unknown.  Patricia had vanished from Omega several days ago in the company of one of her dealers.

Only two individuals on the station seemed to care about Olivia at all. A bounty hunter named Wrex who stopped in every few weeks to check on her.  The other was one of the Asari who worked closely with Aria.

Both thought it best for Olivia to be far away from Omega and her mother.  She was smart—they said—learned far too quickly how to charm people and how to care for herself.  They wanted her to have a happy home with good people.

A safe, loving home.

Wrex, in particular, had made it crystal clear what would happen if Olivia wasn’t happy.  He hadn’t stepped in with Patricia because where would the girl go without her.  Now there were other options. 

With her heart going between her throat and her stomach, Molly sat in front of a terminal to vid-chat with her husband.  Ivan immediately jumped into action.  He promised to get their family attorney to start wrangling with the issues of adopting an abandoned child.

 The heart-breaking thing about the children born to humans in places like Omega was no one seemed to care about them.   It wouldn’t be as hard as adopting someone from an orphanage on earth.  Molly hated the way the system worked.

Her sweet husband seemed ecstatic over the idea of finally having a child of their own.  He also sounded mildly panicked at raising a little girl.   Molly had no doubts he would handle it just fine.

“Girls. What on earth will I do with one of them? I don’t have hands made for tea parties.” Ivan scratched his jaw absently then lifted his hands as if to prove his point.

“She’s currently learning all about how to fly the ship from the pilot.  I’m sure you’ll be able to figure something out.” Molly couldn’t hold back her laughter while her husband muttered to himself.  They made a list together of things to purchase.  “We’ll be home in a couple of days.  Try not to panic.”

“Shepards don’t panic.”

“Right.  You forget I snuck in to see you before our wedding. And call your brother. Hannah might have some things leftover from John that we can borrow.” Molly ignored his attempt to glare at her. “Are you ready to be father?”

“Never.  _Always.”_

They said their goodbyes and Molly headed up to the bridge. She found Olivia perched on the knee of their pilot, a former Alliance officer who volunteered her time.  The little girl seemed _very_ excited by everything around her.

“Olivia?”

Molly took the little girl by the hand to guide her down to her quarters.  She introduced her to Ivan via the vid-chat.  Her husband was smitten immediately when Olivia grinned very widely and chattered away about the ‘big ship’ and her Unca Wrex’s weapons. 

They would be _just_ fine.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Face References:  
> Child Olivia: http://pixelatrix.tumblr.com/post/137186460546  
> Teen Olivia: http://pixelatrix.tumblr.com/post/137186584826  
> Adult Olivia: http://pixelatrix.tumblr.com/post/137187773601
> 
> Molly: http://pixelatrix.tumblr.com/post/137188850591  
> Ivan: http://pixelatrix.tumblr.com/post/137188591806/teatime-with-sabrina-and-violet-actor-idris


End file.
